Coleman takes MN recount back to court

New Year's Eve are again asking for relief from Minnesota's high court on the issue of improperly rejected absentee ballots in the state's still unresolved race between Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

As outlined in a previous ruling by the state Supreme Court, both campaigns and local election officials must agree on the ballots that were improperly rejected before the canvassing board can open and count them. Ballots that are rejected improperly are typically so because of a clerical error or something similar.

Local elections officials had identified approximately 1,350 ballots that may have been rejected in error. The Coleman campaign is asking the court to force Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and the state canvassing board to consider not only those but hundreds more that they've identified unilaterally.

Ritchie's office released a statement saying it has been working closely with both campaigns to count wrongly rejected absentee ballots by Jan. 4.

"This process, now 90 percent complete, was agreed upon by both campaigns, local officials, and the Secretary of State on the afternoon of December 24, 2008," the statement reads. "We look forward to the completion of the State Canvassing Board's work next week."

As they've done in the past, the Coleman campaign then accused Ritchie's office of supporting Franken.